Raiders host local high schools for 7-on-7 tournament in lieu of practice

The Raiders held a 7-on-7 tournament for student-athletes from eight local high schools at their Alameda headquarters on Thursday, June 7.

Photo: Matt Kawahara / San Francisco Chronicle

Jon Gruden made a surprise announcement to his players in the midst of offseason workouts last week.

“He let us know that Santa would come,” running back Jalen Richard said, “and maybe give us a day off if we had some good OTA days.”

For student-athletes from eight local high schools, Thursday morning might have felt a little like Christmas. In lieu of practice, the Raiders hosted a 7-on-7 tournament at their Alameda headquarters that allowed those high schoolers to share a field with NFL players and coaches.

The Raiders’ coaches officiated the games and players served as coaches for teams from Castlemont-Oakland, Kennedy-Richmond, San Lorenzo, Encinal-Alameda, Castro Valley and Dublin high schools, Oakland’s Madison Park Academy and Oakland Military Institute. As the Raiders neared the final stages of their spring program, it marked a notable change of pace.

“Coach Gruden is an absolute wild man — I can promise you if anyone doesn’t want to give up football time, it’s him,” tight end Lee Smith said. “So for him to give up six hours of essentially time that we could be grinding and getting better and learning this new offense to give back to the community, I can promise you it comes from a great, great place.”

Gruden, whom the Raiders hired in January, has made no secret of his disdain for aspects of the collective bargaining agreement that prohibited him from even meeting with his new players until April. Players have described a fast-paced environment since then as Gruden’s staff installs concepts and schemes. Few expected their coach to sacrifice an allotted practice day.

“A lot of us were really surprised,” Richard said. “For him to do this, man, it just shows how much he cares for the city of Oakland — as much as he portrays. He’s fired up about the Oakland Raiders. He’s fired up about the city of Oakland. And to do this for the kids is really cool.

“A lot of us come from different backgrounds, didn’t have access to a lot of stuff. … To come out here and just give back to these kids, give them confidence — even if they’re having thoughts about their game or anything like that, to hear it from an NFL guy is just different.”

The tournament idea began partly with special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia, who was part of a similar event with the Dallas Cowboys. Bisaccia said one of Gruden’s first questions after hiring him was about reaching out to the Bay Area. The entire Oakland coaching staff and an estimated 80 players were on hand Thursday, wearing shirts with the logo: “Raiders U.”

The kids “might’ve been nervous, but they didn’t show it,” Jordy Nelson said. “I would’ve been nervous out of my mind, wouldn’t know what to do. I think they handled it well.”

The NFL players got in on the fun, wildly celebrating touchdowns and turnovers. They also got a taste of what it’s like to coach and call plays.

“I was telling (quarterbacks coach Brian) Callahan, ‘I can’t do your job,’” Nelson said with a grin. “Trying to tell someone to do something and they don’t do it, we’re losing our voices, yelling at everyone. It was fun.”

The tournament’s final pitted linebacker Kyle Wilber’s team (Dublin) against Lynch’s (Kennedy), with the former emerging victorious. Afterward, Raiders players spoke to the students and answered questions. It marked a welcome diversion before the team holds a mandatory minicamp next week from Tuesday through Thursday.

“We’ve been going hard in OTAs, working hard in the weight room, on the field, and sometimes it can get a little monotonous,” Richard said. “To switch it up like this and come help the kids kind of clears your brain, refresh before we start minicamp.”